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Japan Federation of Bar Associations Human Rights Protection Committee: Verified Wrongful Convictions in Japan. The following 12 cases have been endorsed by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) as gross miscarriages of justice - wrongful convictions despite evidence of innocence. These cases have passed rigorous review, some taking several years of deliberation. All are being appealed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Facts and Figures Total Number = 12 Death Row Convictions = 5 Cases continuing even after the death of the defendant = 2 Women = 1 Non-Japanese =1 Originally declared not guilty = 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is hardly a complete list of wrongful convictions in Japan. A more extensive list is viewable at http://jiadep.org/resources/Chart-Enzai.html This chart has been prepared by the Japan Innocence and Death Penalty Information Center 日本冤罪・死刑情報センター
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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名張 61/03/28 Mie Nabari City Arrested 61/04/02 |
Okunishi Masaru aged 35 at the time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Died in prison: October 4, 2015 Aged 89 |
Murder x 5 ~~~~~ Yes |
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Summary Five women died at a town meeting after drinking wine laced with poison. The investigation focussed on those in possession of the wine that day, and was narrowed to three people. The key suspect became thirty five year old Masaru Okunishi. Of the five women who perished, one was his wife and another was a lover. A great tragedy of Japanese justice, Okunishi was found not guilty in his first trial, and guilty in the second. He passed away on death row in 2015. Court Chronology District Court (Tsu) 1964/12/23 Not Guilty High Court (Nagoya) 1969/09/10 Death Supreme Court 1972/06/15 Confirmed Later Actions Retrial Appeals 1973~2002 6 appeals for retrial filed. All are rejected. 7th Appeal for Retrial: 2002 7th request for retrial is filed. 2005/04/05 Request for retrial is granted. Prosecution files objection. 2006/12/26 Prosecution’s objection is granted, retrial is repealed. 2010/04/05 Supreme Court overturns repeal and grants a retrial. 2012/05/25 Nagoya High Court denies retrial. 2015/10/04 Okunishi passes away in prison. 10th Appeal for Retrial: 2017/12/08 Nagoya High Court denies 10th petition for retrial. 2017/12/11 Special Protest filed over retrial denial. Current Status: Protest is being adjudicated in the Nagoya High Court |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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袴田 1966/06/30 Shizuoka Shimizu City Arrested 66/08/18 |
Hakamada Iwao b. 1936 (current age 83) (Currently paroled from death row.) |
Murder x 4 Arson, Robbery ~~~~ Yes |
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Summary Charged with the stabbing murder of a family of four and arson. Insists on innocence. Cause celebre among wrongful arrests in Japan. Former ranked professional boxer. Strongly supported by many groups, and the subject of many publications and documentaries. Listed in the Guiness Book of World Records. Supported by Amnesty International. Supported by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. (Nichibenren). Court Chronology District Court 1968/09/11 Death Shizuoka District Court High Court 1976/05/18 Death Tokyo High Court Supreme Court 1980/11/29 Confirmed Later Actions First Appeal for Retrial: 1981/04/20 Request for Retrial is submitted 1994/08/09 Request for Retrial is rejected 1994/08/12 Protest lodged with High Court. 2004/08/26 Protest is rejected. 2004/08/27 Protest lodged with Supreme Court 2005/12/07 Petition for Pardon to the Ministry of Justice. 2008/03/24 Supreme Court rejects protest. Retrial denial is confirmed. Second Appeal for Retrial: 2008/04/25 Second retrial appeal is filed (Shizuoka District Court). 2014/03/27 Shizuoka District Court grants retrial and a stay of execution. Hakamada is paroled. 2014/03/31 Prosecution lodges protest with Tokyo High Court. 2018/06/11 Tokyo High Court overturns district court decision to open retrial. 2018/06/18 Defense files special protest with Supreme Court. Currently being adjudicated. |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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マルヨ無線事件 Maruyo Musen Case (Murder/Arson/Robbery AKA: Kawabata-Cho Case 川端町事件 1966/12/05 |
Oda Nobuo 尾田信夫 b. 1946 age: 74 |
Aged 20 at time of crime. Admits the robbery, denies the charges of arson/murder as a cause of death. In its 1998/10/29 decision, S.C. notes that part of the charges may be appealed. |
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Summary The defendant, along with a 17 year old friend, was charged with breaking into his workplace with the intent of robbery. The pair attacked two employees staying overnight with hammer blows to the head, kicked over a stove, and caused a fire in which one of the employees died. The defense contends that the stove was not kicked over, and therefore the charges of murder/robbery are moot. It has continually challenged the charge of arson. The original defense attorney only met once with the socially insecure 20 year old defendant throughout the trial, and performed abysmally. Court Chronology 1968/12/24 Fukuoka D.C. Death 1970/03/20 Fukuoka H.C Affirmed
1970/11/12 Supreme Court Confirmed Later Actions Appeals Chronology: 1973~1979 4 appeals filed. All are denied
1979/02/01 Japan Federation of Bar Associations joins the defense. 1979-2013 5th and 6th appeals are filed. All are denied. 2013/07/16 7th appeal filed. Currently being ajudicated. |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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大崎 Kagoshima 1979/10/12 |
Haraguchi Ayako (F) (Nee Nakamura) + two others. |
Murder, Disposal of a Corpse. ~~~~~~ |
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Summary In October 1979, Kunio Nakamura, a 42-year-old farmer, was found dead in a cattle barn near his home in the town of Ohsaki, Kagoshima Prefecture. 3 people were charged with the slaying, Nakamura's two brothers, and Haraguchi. Haraguchi was married to the older brother. The brothers, one of whom was mentally retarded, plead guilty, implicated Haraguchi, and received 8 year sentences. Haraguchi plead innocent and was sentenced to 10 years. Court Chronology District Court 80/03/31 Haraguchi 10 years. Three others get 1-8 years. High Court 1980/10/14 Haraguchi's appeal is rejected Supreme Court 1981/01/30 Appeal is rejected. Sentence is finalized. Later Actions 1990/07/17 Haraguchi completes her term and is released from prison. First Appeal for Retrial: 95/04/19 Appeal for retrial is filed. 2002/03/20 Kagoshima D.C. Retrial is granted. 2004/12/09 Kagoshima H.C. Overturns the lower court's decision to reopen the case. 2006/01/31 SC affirms the H.C. decision. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Second Appeal for Retrial: 2010/08 2nd appeal for retrial is filed. 2013/03/06 Kagoshima DC: appeal is rejected. 2014/07/15 Fukuoka HC affirms DC judgement and rejects retrial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Third Appeal for Retrial: 2017/06/28 Kagoshima DC grants retrial. 2018/03/12 Fukuoka HC affims retrial. 2019/06/25 Supreme Court denies retrial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fourth Appeal for Retrial: 2020/03/30 Filed in Kagoshima DC |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~~ Confessed |
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Hinocho 日野町事件 Shiga 1984/12/28 1987/12/29 |
Sakahara Hiromu Died in prison Dec. 2012 (age 75) |
Murder / Robbery ~~~~~ Yes. |
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Summary Three years and one day after the robbery of a small bar and the murder of its elderly proprietess, police began questioning Sakahara, a former regular customer. Sakahara was mentally impaired and had never committed a crime. After three days of voluntary, yet abusive police questioning, a confession was extracted. Court Chronology District Court 1995/06/30 Life Imprisonment High Court 1997/05/30 Life Imprisonment Supreme Court 2000/09/27 Confirmed Later Actions First Appeal for Retrial: 2006/03/27 Appeal for retrial is denied. Otsu D.C 2011 Appeal for retrial is denied. Osaka H.C. 2011/03/18 Sakahara dies in prison (age 75). 2011/03/30 Osaka High Court decides to close the case. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Second Appeal for Retrial: 2012/03/30 Sakahara's family files second appeal for retrial filed with Otsu D.C. 2018/07/11 2nd request for retrial is granted. Otsu District Court. 2018/07/17 Prosecution files immediate protest to the Osaka High Court. Current status: under review. |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges |
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Fukui Female Middle School Killing 福井女子中学生殺人事件 Fukui 1986/03/19 1987/03/29 (One year later) |
Maekawa Shoji |
Murder (+other charges) |
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Summary On March 19, 1986, a female middle school student was brutally stabbed and strangled in the kitchen of her home after a graduation ceremony. One year later, police arrested Shoji Maekawa on drug charges and later charged him with the murder. As there was only circumstantial evidence,-mostly testimony of a yakuza in detention, Maekawa was declared innocent. The prosecution appealed and he was sentenced to 7 years. In 2011, the Nagoya High Court granted a retrial, a very rare occurance. The prosecution again appealed and some 15 months later, a separate branch of the Nagoya High Court revoked the retrial. A further appeal has been lodged with the Supreme Court. Court Chronology District Court 90/09/26 Not Guilty. High Court 95/02/09 Not Guilty decision is overturned. Sentenced to 7 years. Supreme Court 97/11/12 Appeal Rejected. Sentence Confirmed Later Actions 2003/03/05 Maekawa finishes sentence and is released. First Appeal for Retrial: High Court: 2011/11/30 Retrial Granted. (Nagoya High Court) High Court 2013/03/06 Retrial Revoked (Nagoya High Court) Supreme Court 2013/03/11 Special Objection filed. Supreme Court 2014/12/10 Special Objection is rejected. Current Status: not being ajudicated. |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? ~~~~~~~~~ Currently Incarcerated? |
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鶴見事件 Yokohama city 1988 June 20 1988 June 30 |
Takahashi Kazutoshi 高橋和利 |
Robbery & Murder. Admits the robbery, denies the murder. ~~~~~ Yes ~~~~~~ Currently on death row in the Tokyo Detention Center. |
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Summary After arriving for an appointment at a real estate office, Takahashi finds two dead bodies. He does not inform the police, and leaves with a bag of cash. He is apprehended, and using the theft as a pretext, police extract a confession to murder. Though the contents of the confession, i.e., the murder tool, the escape route, and other statements conflict with the facts, the court issued a death sentence based on circumstantial evidence. Court Chronology District Court 1995/09/07 Death (Yokohama) High Court 2002/10/30 Confirmed (Tokyo) Supreme Court 2006/03/28 Confirmed Later Actions First Appeal for Retrial: 2006/06/14 First Retrial filed. Yokohama DC 2012/04/13 Retrial rejected. Yokohama DC 2012/04/19 Immediate complaint filed with Tokyo HC 2017/08/25 Japan Federation of Bar Associations grants support. Support Committee is formed. Second Appeal for Retrial: 2017/12/27 First retrial is withdrawn. (Same day) Second petition for retrial is filed. Current status: Petition is being deliberated by the Number 2 Criminal Division of the Yokohama District Court. Supported by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (Nichibenren) Human Rights Protection Committee.. |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~~ Confessed |
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also called the Sendai Muscle Relaxant Case Sendai city, Miyagi pref. 2000 2001/Jan/06 |
Mori Daisuke 守大助 Born 1971 Currently incarcerated at the Chiba prison |
Murder x1 Attempted Murder x 4 ~~~~ Yes. Retracted soon afterward. |
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Summary Mori, a male nurse, is accused of killing an elderly patient (F age 89) and attempting to murder four others (F ages1, 11, and M ages 4 and 45) by administering an intravenous muscle relaxant. Despite finding the defendant's confession to "be guided by the interrogators . . .and that the motive remains unclear," the judge handed down a life sentence. Note: The district court trial phase had 155 hearings. Court Chronology 2004/03/30 Life Imprisonment. Sendai District Court 2005 September: Hearings begin. Sendai High Court 2005 October 9 After only four hearings, the judge summarily terminates proceedings and announces March 22, 2006 as decision day. The defense team walks out of court and files for recusal . 2006/03/22 Sentence affirmed. Sendai High Court. 2008/02/25 Sentence confirmed. Supreme Court Later Actions First Appeal for Retrial: 2012/02/10 Retrial filed. Sendai District Court 2014/03/25 Retrial rejected. Sendai District Court 2014/03/28 Special Protest Filed. Sendai High Court. 2018/02/28 Special Protest Rejected. Sendai High Court. 2018/03/05 Special Protest filed with the Supreme Court. Currently under review. |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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Himeji Post Office Robbery Himeji city, Hyogo pref. 2001/06/19 2001/06/20 |
Julius (nickname) Nigerian national (age 25) |
Armed robbery of a post office ~~~~~~~ No. |
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Summary Two black men wearing ski masks robbed a post office with toy guns and left the money and other evidence in the defendant's garage. After Julius was arrested, one of the robbers came forward, confessed and implicated a separate Nigerian as as the co-culprit. Prosecutors pushed forward, prosecuted, and convicted Julius. Court Chronology District Court 2004/01/09 Guilty 6 years. High Court 2005/12/08 Appeal is rejected. Supreme Court 2006/04/25 Confirmed. Later Actions 2009/01/17 Defendant served out the sentence and was transferred to immigration detention. Later paroled. First Appeal for Retrial: 2012/03/02 Retrial filed. Kobe District Court. 2014/03/28 Retrial rejected. Kobe District Court. 2014/04/03 Special Protest Lodged. Osaka High Court. 2016/03/15 Osaka High Court overturns the district court's decision and remands the case. 2018/April Retrial begins. Kobe District Court. Civil Suit Filed 2018-State Redress Suit ( civil suit) filed. Kobe District Court Currently, criminal case is being retried in the Kobe District Court. 2019/05/12 Decision in civil case will be announced. |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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AKA: Toyokawa Case AKA: Mito Child Drowning Case 2002/07/28 2003/04/15 |
Tanabe Masaki aka (Kawase Masaki). b. 1972 Currently incarcerated in the Oita prison. |
Kidnapping and Murder of a 22 month old boy ~~~~ Yes |
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Summary Prosecutors allege that Tanabe became angered by a boy's crying while trying to sleep in his minivan in Toyokawa city, Aichi prefecture. He then reacted violently, and abducted, transported, and hurled the boy into the sea from a pier in Mito city. In the absence of any material evidence, the district court found the confession unreliable and declared Tanabe not guilty. The high court overturned and issued a sentence of 17 years. Court Chronology 2006/01/25 Not Guilty. Nagoya District Court 2007/07/06 Verdict is overturned. Sentence 17 years. Nagoya High Court 2008/09/30 Confirmed Supreme Court Later Actions First Appeal for Retrial: 2016/07/05 Retrial filed. Nagoya High Court 2019/01/25 Retrial is rejected. Nagoya High Court (Criminal Division #1) 2019/01/28 Objection filed. Nagoya High Court (Criminal Division #2) Currently under review by the Nagoya High Court (Criminal Division #2). |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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Koishikawa Case 小石川事件 Tokyo 2002/08/01 2002/08/31 |
伊原康介 Ihara b. 1980 |
Murder/Robbery ~~~~ Yes |
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Summary Ihara is charged with the murder and robbery of an 83 year old woman with whom he shared a house. He and his female companion lived upstairs. One month after the murder, he was arrested for breaking into the same apartment. He was originally charged with the robbery. 5 months later, detectives coerced a confession to the murder. Court Chronology District Court 2004/03/29 Guilty: Life Imprisonment High Court 2004/12/21 Affirmed. Supreme Court 2005/06/17 Confirmed Later Actions First Appeal for Retrial: 2015/06/24 Retrial filed (Tokyo District Court). Currently under review. |
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Case Name Location Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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Osaka Video Room Arson/Murder Case 大阪個室ビデオ店放火殺人事件 |
Ogawa Kazuhiro 小川和弘 b. 1961 |
Arson and Murder ( 16 deaths) |
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Summary Charged with starting a fire with accelerant and killing 16 people. Insists the charges are bogus and the fire started from another room. (More) Court Chronology: District Court 2009/12/02 Osaka DC Death. High Court 2011/07/26 Osaka HC Death Supreme Court 2014/03/06 SC Death Later Actions First Appeal for Retrial: 2014/May Retrial filed. Osaka DC 2018/March. Retrial is rejected. Osaka DC. Defense files instantaneous special protest to the Osaka HC 2018/Oct. Special protest is rejected. Defense files instantaneous special protest to the SC. 2019/07/07 Special protest is rejected. Retrial denial is confirmed. Current status: defense is planning a second appeal. |
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